Book Review: Grace From the Garden

What do former NBA player Will Allen, educational policy Ph.D. Ann Wasescha and oncology nurse Pat Williams have in common? They, along with twelve others profiled in Debra Landwehr Engle’s inspiring book Grace from the Garden, are changing lives through gardening.

Using language as rich as the gardens she describes, the author gives us a glimpse into the work and inspiration behind fifteen gardens that teach, nourish, unite, inspire and heal. From a memory garden designed to help Alzheimer’s caregivers reunite with their loved ones, to a juvenile detention center that uses gardening to help lost kids rebuild self esteem and learn practical skills, from a wetlands reclamation helmed by young students in the middle of a dessert to a lush family farm populated with food, family, livestock and art, you can’t help but be inspired by these giving gardeners and their stories.

For those who are inspired enough to learn and do more, she even provided a detailed resource list at the end of the book, including links to Will Allen’s Growing Power.